Are You Causing Your Dog’s Barking?

Are you at the root of your dog’s attention barking?

I’m very often contacted about barking issues. Dogs bark, it’s natural way of communication for them, but sometimes we reinforce it by accident. I’m training a dog who starts to bark every time people near him aren’t paying attention to him. The barking gets worse if he’s tied up, even when the owner is still right next to him. The owner always thought it was separation anxiety but the dog is completely fine alone at home.

When your dog is only exhibiting a behaviour at your present then you need to look in the mirror to find the cause. Recognising you might be the problem isn’t fun, but it’s important part of finding a solution.

In this case we need to go back in time to find out what happened the first time the owner left him outside a cafe. This sweet little Labrador puppy got very upset and started barking like a maniac. The owner ran up to him. And ever since that day he’s barked to get the owner to return back to him or to get attention. The sweet little puppy is now over a year old and has a very bad habit of barking when ever he wants something. It’s really not the dog’s fault, he is simply exhibiting a behaviour that has been proven to be successful.

Fixing a problem that has been going on for a long time isn’t always easy

The longer your dog has been practicing barking the longer it may take to fix it. If it’s a new problem, you should work on fixing it right away before it gets worse. What usually happens is that the dog practices the behaviour until something happens to make you realise that you really need to fix it.

It can be hard to admit we’re the root of our dog’s problem, but there’s an empowerment in it as well. If you’re the problem, you can work to fix it!